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'Empire' Episode 5 Recap: Winners, Losers, and Cookie's Best Line

By Meredith B. Kile 8:46 PM PST, February 4, 2015

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On the latest episode of Empire, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) got down on one knee, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) went on the lam, and one Lyon brother sent goons with guns to break up another’s studio session.

Andre Lyon
He might be evil genius, but in terms of taking over the Empire, the eldest Lyon son took a giant step forward tonight by finally pitting his brothers against each other in a real way. His Lady Macbeth of a wife might have masterminded the Tiana video leak, but it was Andre (Trai Byers) who came up with the real wedge to drive between his younger siblings: making Jamal (Jussie Smollett) think Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) ordered the armed robbery during his studio session.

Honorable Mentions:

Anika - THAT RING. 18 karats of Empire money comes at a price (as her father finds out), but still. THAT RING.

Tiana - The up-and-comer’s star continues to rise, and unsurprisingly, Lucious isn’t at all threatened or deterred by the reveal of the singer’s same-sex relationship like he was with Jamal’s. In fact, both he and Cookie see it as a selling point.

Cookie
The queen was able to handle her empire, even while on the lam, for most of the episode, but everything came crashing down at the end when Lucious admitted that he left the red rose on her doorstep, NOT the hitman for the drug dealer that Cookie testified against. But it was too late for her to call off the hit and this misguided action will most definitely have serious implications for Cookie’s personal and professional life.

Honorable Mentions:

Anika’s Dad - Poor guy finally warms up to his daughter’s fiance only to have him ask to commit medical fraud.

That Studio Engineer - Andre claimed that Hakeem’s goons were soft and no one would even pull a gun, but this unlucky musician got a bullet in his arm for his troubles.

"It’s almost morning and even vampires have manners.""Did I wake you up from your coffin?"
-Cookie and Lucious, still bringing it with the banter.

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BEST SONG

"You Can Keep Your Money"

"Drip Drop" is a hot beat, but we're so glad we finally got to hear more of the song Jamal was inspired to write in last week's episode. The middle Lyon son's ability to harness the talent of the raw last-minute replacement musicians proves that at the very least, he’s got the chops to run the Empire.